I love the texture of this song. I know there is a proper musical term to describe it, but my Music Appreciation 101 is escaping me about now. As a matter of fact, the entire Cotton Jones catalog has more texture than most. One minute you’re on your couch listening to whimsical folk, the next you are in a psychedelic bayou.

And the words! Disclaimer. I’ve always been pretty awful at deciphering the deeper meaning in lyrics. I’m a melody girl. That said…superficially speaking…these lyrics have forced me out on multiple nature walks this week and had me searching for last minute camp sites up and down the California coast. I’m yet to visit a proper garden to sit in, that’s the goal of this weekend.

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‘Tis the season for atonement, alms-giving and mortification of the flesh! That is, according to the Christian liturgical calendar.

That being said, we realize that many of you at the very least may take the next 40 days and nights to give up a particular vice(s). So why not let a curated Gongbanter playlist accompany your journey into self-denial?

1. As Scottish Sophisti-pop quartet Orange Juice sings, “Rip it up and start again”…to live the baptismal life in its fullness! –rye

3. Caramel – Connan Mockasin If John Waters and Ariel Pink got it on (and Michael McDonald watched), the resulting child would look something like Connan Mockasin. As far as his sound goes, the Quietus aptly describes it as the “sound of an elf singing in the bath.” Anyway, I’d give up many things for Lent, but never caramel. Nor Connan Mockasin. –rye

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I’d be remiss if I didn’t shed some light on the madness of my favorite French music producer/director, Quentin Dupieux aka Mr. Oizo.

Many of you who partook in the wave of heavy French nu-disco a la Justice are probably familiar with his music. Cuts such as “Positif” and “Gay Dentists” from his “Lamb’s Anger” record often appeared and continue to appear in many-a DJ sets, from 2manyDJs to Kutmah.

Though one track you probably didn’t hear was a Lamb’s Anger bonus track titled “Unfinished (Lamb’s Garbage)”– a series of crudely mixed snippets of ideas that were never developed into tracks of their own. The piece takes you on a ride through through a series of beats and spoken word sections, punctuated with a familiarly warped voice reminding you of the track’s unfinished nature.

Ironically, the mix is full of shining moments that make you wonder why Oizo never developed any of these wonderful ideas. Highlights include a computer-generated voice reading a line from Madonna’s “Like A Virgin,” an odd Mariah Carey sample, and a creepy keyboard interlude that you might expect to hear from a demented baseball organist.

Overall, this track is a tease– snippets of undeveloped ideas and outtakes THAT COULD’VE BEEN SOMEBODY. I love it though, and think every artist should release a mega-mix of unused “garbage.” Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1fZ6C7nGIQ

I’d also like to point out that Dupieux often opens his DJ sets with a manipulated rendition of “The Devo Corporate Anthem”– a fun fact that couldn’t be more timely to mention given the passing of “Bob 2” Casale of Devo. Thus, we feel it only appropriate to salute the late great spud himself by sharing the instrumental piece that opens “Duty Now For The Future.”